World Overview
'Basic Worldview' 'The Continent of Bartan' thumb|right|350pxBartan is a cursed continent where the evil dragon Jurtan is sealed within, and is the main location of the game. While the closest part of the nearby continent of Aslan is only 2000 km away from Bartan, the Seal of the Great Storm renders a straight path voyage impossible. Venturing around the Seal of the Great Storm requires a journey of about 6000 km, which takes a ship about 40 days back and forth. 'The Order of Huanis' The Order of Huanis are agents who communicate the will and voice of the Goddess Huanis. Though the organizational structure of the Order is over centralized and inefficient, their faith is unique from other religions in that their Goddess Huanis personally reveals herself in person to her devotees. Thus the Order does not worship an abstract deity but has a personal Goddess they can talk to. (This of course, takes away from the authority of the Pope and Archbishops since the members of the Order have a direct line to their Goddess.) Therefore, for corruption to exist among the leaders is unimaginable, since the Order believes the Goddess is aware of their every action, so that there can be no wavering of faith. This gives the Huanis faith a unifying power stronger than any other religion. (But their unwavering faith allowed the evil Bagdal, a fallen dragon, to deceive Huanis and attain the position of Archbishop.) There is one among the Order known as Adhamun II who knows secrets behind everything - the Genesis War, Jurtan’s ensealment in Bartan, and the true nature of the relationship of the Order of Huanis with the Goddess Huanis. 'The Pope' The Pope holds the highest position of authority within the Order of Huanis, presiding over the Holy Society, the Inquisition, the Cleric Knights, and the Diocese Inspection Agency. For generations, the Popes did not live beyond 10 years due to the intense pressures of keeping their secrets. Pope Adhamun though, became the exception and has held the position for 30 years now. But time has taken a toll and he has grown weak. 'Holy Society' The Holy Society was originally formed as an organization for interpreting and researching the "Book of the Genesis." Nowadays, it serves the role of a legislative body in interpreting doctrines, and the role of an executive body in implementing enacted agendas. The actual head of the Holy Society is comprised of only three people, excluding the King. (It is customary for kings of the Sacred Kingdom of Jutos to become a member of the Holy Society and engage in politics while having close ties with the Order of Huanis.) But when the Goddess was no longer heard from after the failure of the First Crusade, the Holy Society fell into great chaos after three Archbishops began voicing conflicting opinions, which led to a division within the Order of Huanis. Soon after, a full scale struggle erupted between factions over the decision to send a second expeditionary force to Bartan. 'The Inquisition' The Inquisition is an executive body that seeks out and eradicates heretics. The judges of the Inquisition not only read the verdict but must also act as warriors in carrying out the sentence. This is the only organization with a lateral chain of command in the Order of Huanis. While there are levels of command such as a branch manager or a senior judge, the rule is that the judge in charge has all the authorities in the ruling of a case. For example, if a judge rules that a certain village is guilty of heresy and orders it to be burned down along with its inhabitants, a branch manager or senior judge can do nothing to stop the execution of it. In this organization, there is no negotiation or compromise, and their devotion to their Goddess is nothing short of rabid fanaticism that does not acknowledge any exceptions. 'Diocese Inspection Agency ' The Diocese Inspection Agency is an organization that notifies the Pope of any corrupt activity suspected within the Cleric Knights or the Holy Society. Their roles are usually entrusted to nobles, but not to senior-level priests who may have a conflict of interest in such a role. However, even the nobles appointed to this organization have been known to sometimes conspire with others in the Order. Eventually, the organization’s role turned into a sort of social club where clerics and nobles met to exchange information for their own vested interests. 'Cleric Knights' The Cleric Knights operate independently within the Order. Unlike the Inquisition, they are committed to provoking conflicts between nations, large scale assaults, or attacks on large monsters. Their size varies. For generations, the Cleric Knights had been serving the interests of the nobles. So it was still not easy for them to break away from that mindset to fight like mercenaries. In the early days, the Dragona Knights and general knights were separated because the nobles disliked fighting alongside the Dragonas. They felt insignificant next to the Dragonas because they could not keep up with their overwhelming firepower. Recently, the followers of Jurtan acquired extraordinary powers through biological metamorphosis and the use of drugs. With such new powers, the general knights (consisting of nobles) were unable to confront them. So the Dragonas were sent to deal with them. With nearly all the Dragonas sent off to Bartan to fight in the Holy Wars, violent incidents began erupting within the homeland. So the general knights were needed to police the internal disruption. Both the foreign and domestic conflicts were bound to cause huge casualties among the knights. Thus there was an urgent need for knights to develop mass combat skills and proper training to use them against such formidable monsters. 'Archbishop Gallactus' Gallactus is a fundamentalist and religious fanatic of the Huanis faith. Originally a commoner, Gallactus was very young when his entire family was killed in an attack by bandits. During the raid, the Goddess Huanis personally appeared and saved him. Owing his life to her, he became a living proof of her miracle and her devoted follower as well. Although a staunch authoritarian, he is not bad at heart. In fact, he was so faithful to the Goddess Huanis that his rise to power was slow, for he was not aggressive enough in the political game to reach the Archbishop position. And as a commoner, there were limitations on his potential to reach leadership positions within the Order. However, despite this, he became an Archbishop due to complex power struggles between factions of the Order of Huanis which brought him the position. After the first expedition to Bartan led by Archbishop Gyapurang ended up in failure, Gallactus was sent there to search for survivors and organize a second expedition to resume the Goddess’ mission. Although it was a great honor to lead the second expedition, expectations of it were grim because the first expedition led by Gyapurang resulted in disaster and annihilation. The position of the second expedition commander was a "hot potato" which was too good to hand over to the other faction yet nobody on either side came forth to take over it. So Gallactus was appointed to the position. He didn’t have a faction and only focused on a life of piety. In other words, he did not have power but also did not have enemies either. Gallactus was a fairly competent yet efficient puppet that would pose no threat. That was the reason Gallactus was commissioned as the commander of the second Bartan expedition. Gallactus’ main motivation is to carry out a holy mission bestowed by the Goddess. With purity of heart, he loathes everything that may tarnish the name of the goddess. Because of this, he really hates magicians, and especially Stella, the magicians’ guild master. But there is more to his hatred for Stella than just that. Archbishop Gyaprang Gvaprang was a dim-witted noble motivated by greed. He aspired to become Pope by winning the favor of the Goddess Huanis in any way he could. He was the first to insist that the Goddess send troops to Bartan, and as a result, became the commander of the first expedition. But he lacked any skill or experience in war and the mission was beyond his abilities. So, rather than preventing the resurrection of Jurtan, he lost two of the most powerful Orders of Dragona Knights, and not long after, he was eaten alive by vicious wild animals in Bartan. Archbishop Bagdal Bagdal, always smiling, is a typical believer who is admired and respected for his merciful and gentle personality. However, he is actually a corrupted dragon disguised as a human. During one battle, he threw away a star that a dragon was supposed to turn into when he was contaminated by evil powers from another dimension. Bagdal reached the position of Archbishop by becoming powerful enough to deceive the Goddess Huanis, and in fact knows her true identity as well. His covert plot is to open the gates to another dimension in Bartan that will bring this world to an end. 'Ancient Relics Authority' The Ancient Relics Authority is one of many divisions under the Holy Society. It has a very long history, and was originally established to survey relics all over the world. In its early days, relics were discovered during its surveys that contradicted the teachings of the Order of Huanis. The explorers who carried out the survey were accused of heresy and often executed by the Inquisition. As a natural consequence, the ARA now aims to discover only relics that agree with the teachings of the Order of Huanis, rather than the plain truth. All relics that do not are either destroyed or modified to fit the agenda. Thus it became a division with an agenda. This happened long before the Holy Society was even formed, so the predecessors of the Ancient Relics Authority must have gone back many ages. For generations, the head of the organization directly communicated with the Goddess Huanis, and though his power wasn’t seen on the surface, it was equal to that of the Pope. As time passed, the main continent no longer harbored any remains or relics that were out of line with the doctrines of the Order of Huanis. But as the continent of Bartan began to be explored, the organization expanded and became active again. However, most clerics of the Ancient Relics Authority are not aware of the secret of the organization. Lower-ranking clerics only gather relics according to their orders, and they are strictly prohibited from knowing how the relics are used, where they are stored, or what their purpose is. This is why the clerics sent to Bartan are usually from the Ancient Relics Authority. The Holy Kingdom of Jutos Jutos is a holy kingdom that encompasses most of the fertile territory in the southeastern region of Aslan. As a country blessed by the goddess, its climate is mild and its wind carries the fragrance of flowers. However, only a handful of nobles in the Order prosper in the Kingdom of Jutos, while the living standard of its average citizens is not very high. This is due in part to the large taxes collected from its citizens to maintain Jutos’ overly large military size. In addition, more taxes are collected by the Order and the Royal Family besides the ones paid to the feudal lord. On top of that, they are required to make donations to nearby temples with what little they have left. So even though their land is fertile, their life is still hard to get by. Nevertheless, the morale of its people tends to be high, due to the religious fanaticism of the nation. In fact, the entire country itself is considered a "temple" for the worship of the Goddess Huanis. Jutos is also frequently involved in wars with their neighboring countries - Magyeong to the west and the Conkulor Empire to the north. Thus, the nation is constantly engaged in hostile warfare even though considers itself a holy kingdom. These circumstances attract the Dragonas to gather around the Holy Kingdom of Jutos. And with Jutos’ large military power and religious fanaticism, the Order itself thrives there especially as it supports and manages the kingdom. 'Lars, the Sage King ' Though past his prime, with his great height and crimson hair reminiscent of a lion’s mane, King Lars still looks like a wild beast in the field. For generations, the kings of the Holy Kingdom of Jutos have called themselves the first apostles of the Goddess. Among them, King Lars is also a devoted fanatic. He had the honor of having the Goddess Huanis personally appear at his coronation ceremony to bless him, and moved by her presence, he became forever proud of this coronation. Lars firmly believes he will have a chance to have an audience with the Goddess once again as he continues to devote himself to her. This the motivation behind his active promotion of dispatching troops to Bartan. He is also the cousin of Archbishop Gyapurang. 'Alliances' 'The Kamode Merchants Alliance' This is a powerful alliance of merchants affiliated with the nobles of the homeland. Archduke Orleon, the leader of the merchant alliance, was opposed to the Bartan expeditions because they served to strengthen the powers of the Order of Huanis. So he opposed the Merchants Alliance from becoming involved with them. Instead, the Iris Trading Company took charge of the supplies for the expeditionary forces. But when the first expedition ended up in failure, the Iris Trading Company was on the verge of collapse. Up to this point, Orleon’s opposition to the expeditions seemed correct. However, when the passion of King Lars and the determination of Adhamun II came into play, with the power of Huanis behind them, the second expedition seemed much more promising. Before long, the second expedition steadily began to reap results. Soon the expeditions earned the Iris Trading Company tremendous wealth. Relics obtained from Bartan and various rare items from Aslan became the driving force behind the rapid growth of the Iris Trading Company. 'The Iris Trading Company' This is a merchant union which invests in dangerous expeditions, such as those in Bartan, and reaps great profits from them. To survive in the market economy, they often accepted dangerous tasks that the noble merchants usually didn’t take up. Their spirit of exploration provided them with the courage to set foot on the dangerous continent of Bartan, which had been sealed for 1000 years. ___________________________________________________________________________________________